People ask for God, ‘till the day He comes,
See God’s face…turn around and run.
God sees the face of a man,
Shaking his head, says “He’ll never understand.”

Dice Raw, “Understand,” from The Roots’ …and then you shoot your cousin, 2014. More lyrics by The Legendary Roots Crew…

Crazy frustration, about my lovin situation;
When patience was a virtue…but I wasn’t used to waitin.

Black Thought, “Silent Treatment,” from The Roots’ Do You Want More?!!!??!, 1995. More Black Thought quotes.

You heard about, through word of mouth,
Big Bird is out, he’s in the house.
He’s turnin’ up, with Snuffleup,
They’re really gettin’ their hustle up.
They stick together like Velcro,
There Grover go, there’s Elmo.
And Cookie Monster there, look he likes
To take selfies with his cell phone.
They got a homegirl named Abby,
Her last name is Cadabby,
I showed her my report card,
She said, ‘Not too shabby!’
They got all types of cool kids there,
It’s lots of fun if you live there,
One thing I keep forgettin’ about Sesame Street…
How do you get there?

Black Thought, “Sesame Street Theme,” with Jimmy Fallon, Sesame Street Gang, and The Roots, 2013. Performed on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

I chop ‘em into salad and my name ain’t Caesar.

Black Thought, “@15,” from The Roots’ Rising Down, 2008

The principles of true hip-hop have been forsaken,
It’s all contractual and about money makin’.

Black Thought, “What They Do,” from The Roots’ Illadelph Halflife, 1996

Leave MC’s blind with amnesia;
Chop ‘em into salad, and my name ain’t Caesar.

Black Thought, “@15,” from The Roots’ Rising Down, 2008

If there’s a heaven, I can’t find the stairway

Black Thought, “Make My,” from The Roots’ undun, 2011

You can hear the seven sins
Blowin’ through the ghetto wind…

Rakim, “In the Ghetto (Wake Up!)” from J. Period’s Wake Up Radio, 2011

Every day is like a blank canvas,
Carving my initials in the planet like I brand it.
Hand-picked to live this life we take for granted,
Like a child with an upright bass, we can’t stand it.

Blu, “The Day,” from The Roots’ How I Got Over, 2010

Black Thoughts (The Roots) • “I Remember” • 2011

It’s only human to express the way you really feel,
But that same humanity is my Achilles’ heel.
A leopard can’t change his spots and never will;
So I’m forever ill…now I can never chill.

– Black Thought, “I Remember,” from The Roots’ undun, 2011